Our students write reports from information they find on the internet, not a library book. They need to understand this type of new information source and the network it comes from.

Mary Clark's insight:

I'd love to see students using some of these ideas! When we were discussing website evaluation, students had great ideas for sites to look at, and it definitely enhanced the learning for all of us. We looked at Twitter feeds for McDonalds, Seane Republicans, and others.

Today’s students may be skilled at texting and social media, but many are unable to perform online research and distinguish accurate information on the web, according to a new study."

Mary Clark's insight:

Wait, the results are "surprising, considering that the students are, after all, digital natives." ?? When are we going to retire this cliche? Being able to evaluate multiple sources of information or to research beyond Google are not innate skills. We fail students EVERY TIME we call them digital natives. It's lazy, and it annoys me. They also live surrounded by print, but we don't call them reading natives.

OK, climbing off the soapbox, because at the very end of this article, school librarians are mentioned as being potential leaders in instruction. At least we agree on something! This is what most of my colleagues and I do every day in the library. Digital literacy education should be embedded in every lesson we teach, as part of the critical thinking skills we know students need.

When we comment on news stories, most of us hope to say something about the topic at hand — even (or maybe especially) if it’s that the author got it all wrong. But what do the comments we leave say about us — about our beliefs, our biases and how we act when the ordinary rules don’t apply? And how do our comments affect the beliefs of others?

Mary Clark's insight:

This quote, referring to a study on comments a PSA about vaccines, made me gasp: "...many readers, especially those who are less Internet-savvy, assume commenters “know something about the subject, because otherwise they wouldn’t be commenting on it.” The mere act of commenting, then, can confer an unearned aura of credibility."

Another great opinion piece from The New York Times that would work well in middle or high school digital/media literacy discussions.

This quote, referring to a study on comments a PSA about vaccines, made me gasp: "...many readers, especially those who are less Internet-savvy, assume commenters “know something about the subject, because otherwise they wouldn’t be commenting on it.” The mere act of commenting, then, can confer an unearned aura of credibility."

Another great opinion piece from The New York Times that would work well in middle or high school digital/media literacy discussions.

This would be a good opportunity to have students read and compare articles about this incident from international news sites. It's also a great digital citizenship discussion opener. Should you check with people before you post their photos online? Would your selfies cause drama?

What a great example of the importance of privacy settings! Although your students might see nothing wrong with this, what they think they're sharing with friends on social media can easily be found by others. Most of my students would ask why not get as many views for your photos as you can? I imagine adults would see this differently.

This would be a good discussion starter. Be prepared for your computers to be taken over, though, as students immediately head there to look for their cats....

Mary Clark's insight:

Here's a great conversation starter from the website: "The images are less likely to explain where all the cats in the world exist than they are to describe how many photos of cats have been uploaded from each of these places. So the maps are perhaps a better representation of globalism, access to smart phones, and relaxed consideration for individual privacy." (Emphasis added.)

"Colleges are increasingly considering social media posts in the application process, and students are getting smarter about it."

Photo via JEShoots/Pixabay

Mary Clark's insight:

Students have been savvy enough to create fake Facebook profiles for years. What I'd love to see is students developing an honest online presence that highlights their passions. If they're creating, they should be sharing their work on YouTube, Deviant Art, Tumblr, etc. Encourage students to curate their interests, too. I have students who have Polyvore or Pinterest collections of fashion. Another decided to start 2015 by using Vingle to create a collection of book reviews for every book he reads. When or if colleges look a prospective student up online, they should get an understanding of that student's interests, not a slick marketing campaign.

Meet Xavier Di Petta and Kyle Cameron, ages 17 and 19, whose ability to build a massive audience from nothing may be unparalleled in media today.

Mary Clark's insight:

I'm sure if I share this with my students, their response will be, "Then why should we bother searching for images that are free to use or share? We're not even going to be making money on our projects!" Interesting point, and one that would make a great research or debate topic.

Katie Lepi writes: "Instagram is a hugely popular social network for photo sharing. Though the use of social media in the classroom may have skyrocketed, Twitter and Facebook definitely reign supreme as the key social media tools for schools and teachers. Somehow, despite the widespread popularity of Instagram, few teachers are employing it in the classroom."

Mary Clark's insight:

Katie's list would be very helpful for teachers just starting to dip their toes into social media. I love the idea of using photos for writing prompts! I haven't used my library Instagram account often enough--I'd love to ask students to share photos of creative reading spots, or photos that could be alternative covers for their favorite books. Another idea for the to do list!

John Spencer writes: "I've noticed a trend toward educating students on the notion of a permanent digital footprint. Often, this leads to a conversation about personal branding. Do this and don't do that. Craft this image to make yourself look great for an employer. Don't get caught saying or doing anything dumb at sixteen."

Mary Clark's insight:

This is an interesting take on how we teach about digital footprints or tattoos. John Spencer wonders if we're encouraging students to be less than authentic online by focusing on the impact of their digital teen life on their future education or employment prospects.

I usually couch my digital tattoo talks with comments about how glad I am that camera phones weren't around when I was a teen, but John's article will make me shift my emphasis a bit away from the fear, and more toward the questions John poses.

Following the pattern here would make an intriguing assignment for secondary students. Campaign goes viral, campaign gets criticized, campaign gets forgotten or breaks down horribly? Are those always the steps? I know we saw it with Kony 2012 and Invisible Children. I doubt we'll see that kind of public flame-out from the good people at the ALS Association, but it's certainly worth studying viral campaigns.

Is this slacktivism at its best, and does it matter, since money is allegedly being ...

Mary Clark's insight:

I'm going to spend more time focusing on social media with students this year. This is a great example that they can all relate to! Digger deeper with critical thinking is key.

With all the "sky is falling" cries about American students reading less, I often wonder why we don't track how much reading and writing students do daily on social media. Bring social media into your lessons is crucial to helping students develop critical thinking about the media many of them consume and create in large amounts every day.

In this article from Edudemic, Dave Guymon suggests that pairing visual or non-linguistic ideas with text-based ones can help students recall or interpret...

Mary Clark's insight:

I've started using Vingle to do more reflection on topics that interest me. Here are my comments on Dave Guymon's article on visual literacy.

Eric Randal posted: "Wikipedia is an experiment in crowdsourcing as much human knowledge as possible, and the logical outcome of that process is that the wisdom of the crowd often rules—as insensible as the crowd can be."

Mary Clark's insight:

Great article to share with students when teaching about credible sources.

Stephen Marche, in this opinion piece about abuse on social media, writes: "The challenge of our moment is that the face has been at the root of justice and ethics for 2,000 years. The right to face an accuser is one of the very first principles of the law, described in the “confrontation clause” of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, but reaching back through English common law to ancient Rome. In Roman courts no man could be sentenced to death without first seeing his accuser."

Mary Clark's insight:

An excellent article to share with high school students. Maybe the obsession with selfies has more to do with some atavistic need to see each other on social media, to compensate for the anonymity of much of what we do or say online. Well worth reading, and re-reading.

An excellent article to share with high school students. Maybe the obsession with selfies has more to do with some atavistic need to see each other on social media, to compensate for the anonymity of much of what we do or say online. Well worth reading, and re-reading.

The best ads of 2014 share one common trait: they all tell stories -- beautifully. Sometimes they grab you from the get-go, and never let go. Sometimes the stories are visual -- or audio -- picnics.

Mary Clark's insight:

I am going to work these commercials into a lesson when we discuss book trailers, or, well, anything! Telling stories is such critical skill, and telling them with powerful visuals is a skill we need to help students develop. I'd also like to explore how these commercials influence behavior, and get students to question how much influence commercials have on them.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that children spend an average of seven hours a day consuming various types of media. This data illustrates that society’s voracious appetite for media makes media literacy more important than ever.

How can you teach your students to interact responsibly with the media? The following resources can help you plan thought-provoking lessons on the subject."

Mary Clark's insight:

It's well worth spending some time exploring these resources collected by Edudemic. I found several things I'll be incorporating in lessons for next year.

Ann Elliott writes: "Conveying information in a striking, concise way has never been more important, and infographics are the perfect pedagogical tool with which to do so. Below, you’ll find my experience with designing an infographic-friendly classroom research project, explained in a step-by-step process you can implement in your own classroom."

Mary Clark's insight:

After making several suggestions to a teacher yesterday who wanted to assign a "more interesting" book project, I found Ann Elliott's article timely and useful. Our students love viewing infographics, but need instruction on creating them, on design basics, etc. Ann's article will be very helpful to a teacher who wants to jump into infographics, but is learning along with her students.

Just weeks after a celebrity hacking scandal, members of an anonymous online message board claimed to have accessed hundreds of thousands of photographs of noncelebrities.

Mary Clark's insight:

I love the last quote, in which the creator of an app that allows you to save Snapchats to your phone says, "...your average Snapchat user isn't very tech savvy." Another teachable moment to add to my long list of examples for digital literacy. Even just reading about the mystery of Snapsaved is a lesson!

The infographic by Neil Patel from Quick Sprout will give you a simple formula for enticing headlines. Though there's no one-size-fits-all headline trope that guarantees a crazy influx of traffic, the tactics below should help you tweak your headlines to get your posts the attention they deserve.

There are some great tips here. Our 7th grades write newspaper front pages for an historical fiction project, and last year we talked about good headlines and captions. I'll share this with them this year.

Katie Lepi writes: " The Creative Commons licenses allow any internet user to easily understand how they can (and can not) share what they find on the web. The licenses are visual, and if you aren’t sure of what you see on the work you’d like to use, you can refer back to the CC website to see. The handy infographic below gives a pretty thorough overview of the licenses and what they mean. Whether you have a personal blog, a class blog, or your students want to use a photo they’ve found in a presentation, this guide will be super handy!"

Mary Clark's insight:

I love this infographic from Foter! My next presentation to 8th grade students is on Creative Commons, so this information is timely. I think the infographic will make a longer lasting impression than anything I tell them.

Cindy Boren writes: "It isn’t clear exactly where NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is, but, if he’d chosen to attend at game Sunday at MetLife Stadium, he’d have seen a plane fly over the place, trailing a banner calling for him to go in a larger #GoodellMustGo protest over the weekend."

Mary Clark's insight:

Another example of using social media to pressure public figures for action. This would certainly generate discussion among students.--football AND make-up!

Emotionally abusive comments are becoming more common online, and the consequences could include scaring away from the web those subject to attacks.

Mary Clark's insight:

This article would be great for a discussion about online.rights and responsibilities. Just because you can comment on everything online, should you? Can students come up with a civility code that they think we should adhere to online (or anywhere)?

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.